Across the Vanishing Sky

Catherine Cowles’s romantic suspense novel Across the Vanishing Sky (2026) is the first installment in the Starlight Grove series. The story follows Braedyn Winslow, a single mother who moves to the small mountain town of Starlight Grove one year after her best friend, Nova, vanished there during a hike. Determined to uncover the truth that the dismissive local sheriff has ignored, Braedyn begins her own investigation, but her mission is complicated by her reclusive new neighbor, Dex Archer, a former FBI hacker who is haunted by his family’s dark past. As a series of escalating threats reveals that Nova’s disappearance was no accident, Braedyn must rely on Dex, forcing them both to confront their personal traumas and the dangerous secrets hidden within the town. The novel explores themes such as The Challenges of Shedding a Dark Family Legacy, Truth-Seeking as a Path to Healing, and The Failure of Institutional Justice.

Catherine Cowles is a USA Today bestselling author known for writing small-town romance novels that blend suspenseful, high-stakes plots with emotional character journeys. She has penned numerous other popular series, including Tattered & Torn, the Lost & Found series, and Sparrow Falls. Across the Vanishing Sky continues Cowles’s signature style by combining an overarching mystery with the development of a central romance, introducing the key characters in a new series centered on the Archer brothers and the tight-knit community of Starlight Grove. 

This guide refers to the 2026 Bloom Books edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide feature depictions of graphic violence, physical and emotional abuse, sexual content, cursing, and death.

Plot Summary

One year after her best friend Nova Monroe vanished during a hike in Starlight Grove, Braedyn Winslow moves to the same small town with her eight-year-old son, Owen, and her search-and-rescue dog, Yeti. Frustrated by the dismissive local sheriff, Ezra Miller, who has declared Nova’s case cold, Braedyn tells his sympathetic deputies, Travis and Roger, that she is determined to find answers herself. Roger surreptitiously promises to net her the efforts of a hacker friend of his.

After her hostile run-in with Sheriff Miller, Braedyn heads to her rental cabin as the brooding and reclusive Dex Archer, a former FBI hacker, simultaneously returns to Starlight Grove, reflecting on his dark past. Dex is one of five brothers, all of whom remain haunted by the legacy of their notorious father—who, as Braedyn will later learn, was unmasked as a serial killer when the brothers were still children. Dex and his brothers secretly operate the Hourglass Network, investigating missing-persons cases and acting outside the law to see justice done.

Braedyn’s first encounter with Dex is fraught with tension when a rental mix-up leads him to believe that she is an intruder in his cabin. Resigning herself to having Dex as a “grumpy” next-door neighbor, she soon gets a job as a waitress at The Boot, a local bar that happens to be owned by Dex’s eldest brother, Wylder. Upon discovering that Dex is the hacker that Roger Oakley suggested could help her, Braedyn asks Dex to retrieve old camera footage related to Nova’s disappearance. Though he is initially hesitant to take on a local case, which goes against a pact made with his brothers, Dex agrees after seeing Braedyn’s unwavering dedication. He brings the case to his brothers—Wylder, Kol, Maverick, and Orion—who agree to alter their rules enough to allow Dex to help Braedyn.

As the Archers begin their work on Nova’s case, Braedyn joins a local chapter of Compass, a support group for families of the missing, where she befriends her coworker Cora, a woman named Holly, and a therapist named Aster. Later, the search for Nova takes a dangerous turn when Braedyn receives a mysterious call from Nova’s old phone number, with only the sounds of rushing water and heavy breathing on the other end. The incident forces a reluctant Sheriff Miller to reopen the case. Meanwhile, Braedyn’s past resurfaces when her wealthy, abusive ex, Vincent Faber—Owen’s absentee father—escalates his longtime online stalking by coming to Starlight Grove in person. He confronts her in the parking lot behind The Boot, physically assaulting her and demanding custody of Owen now that his prestigious family knows of the boy’s existence. Braedyn fights back with pepper spray and drives away. When she returns to the cabin, a panicked Dex tells her that Kol’s daughter Skylar is missing at camp, and although the girl is soon located, the crisis distracts Braedyn from mentioning Vincent. Later, she reveals the truth, and Dex vows to protect her. 

Despite the brothers’ attempts to shield Braedyn from harm, Vincent eventually gains access to her again, attacking her in The Boot’s back hallway and threatening her with a knife. She employ self-defense to escape, and Dex’s brother Maverick intervenes, leading to Vincent’s arrest. The police discover Vincent’s laptop, which contains obsessive files on both Braedyn and Nova, and Vincent becomes the primary suspect in Nova’s disappearance. However, the trauma continues when a masked figure leaves Nova’s bloodied locket on Braedyn’s porch, along with a taunting note, an act captured by the security cameras that Dex installed.

To generate new leads, Braedyn agrees to an interview on Sounds Like Serial, a popular true-crime podcast hosted by Dex’s friend, Ridley Sawyer. Later, accompanied by Dex and Aster, she decides to revisit the hiking trail where Nova disappeared, seeking to jog her memory. Someone has staged a mannequin dressed in Nova’s old clothes alongside a hidden speaker that broadcasts Nova’s recorded voice, traumatizing Braedyn all over again. The community rallies around Braedyn, and Dex and Braedyn’s bond deepens into a romance.

Braedyn decides to return once again to the trailhead, so she meets Aster there and texts Dex to join her. Suddenly, Sheriff Miller ambushes the two women, knocking Aster unconscious and holding Braedyn at gunpoint. He confesses that he has been taking bribes from an illegal marijuana operation to keep law enforcement away from the area. Now, he intends to kill Braedyn and stage her death as a suicide. Just as he raises his gun, Deputy Travis Moore appears and shoots Miller dead.

Braedyn’s relief is short-lived as Travis reveals himself to be Nova’s kidnapper. A sociopath inspired by the murderous exploits of Dex’s father, Travis has been kidnapping and killing people for the thrill of working the official investigations and witnessing the families’ pain up close. He tasers Braedyn and transports her to a hidden shed on his property, where he shows her an underground bunker and describes torturing Nova for a year before killing her. As he prepares to imprison Braedyn, she attacks him and escapes. Travis gives chase, cornering her at a riverbank. At that moment, Dex and Kol, who found Aster and tracked Braedyn with Yeti’s help, arrive. Dex shoots Travis, who stumbles into the river and is swept away. In the aftermath, authorities discover multiple graves on Travis’s property. While they all believe that Nova is dead, Kol eventually finds her alive, abandoned by Travis in a remote part of the forest. 

Three months later, a new sense of peace has settled over Starlight Grove. Nova is slowly recovering from her ordeal, and Dex has used his hacking skills to drain Vincent’s fortune and donate it to charities that help single parents. He proposes to Braedyn, and Owen joyfully asks if Dex will now be his dad. With Nova smiling nearby, Braedyn accepts the proposal, reveling in her new family and envisioning a future built on trust and love.